Afterlife Department

"Let's go inside the mausoleum." Huo Zichu said. 

"Huh?" Han Meng muttered. "Why… why go inside the mausoleum?" she asked. A trace of fear flashed in her eyes. "And it… it – it's already night… it's so dark…" she added. Her lips quivered. 

Rourou and Lian Xiang are also puzzled. However, they could feel that strange feeling, and it's making them uneasy. Like something is about to happen… and it is bound to happen, which makes it so strange. Zhou Cheng and Peng Qian wanted to ask Huo Zichu, but they are afraid of this headstrong woman. 

They are afraid of her retaliation against them.. Huo Zichu observed their expression and the smile on her lips widened. Meanwhile, Huo Huainan remained silent, but he had already taken into consideration the behavior of each of Huo Ling's colleagues. 

How can the senior policeman not notice the undergoing tension? He already knows that these young men and women are afraid. So, he spoke. "What does Mrs. Huo mean?" he asked, his voice filled with politeness. 

Huo Zichu is satisfied with these two policemen's attitude. They are neither too servile, nor too assertive. Thus, she answered his question. "The nights in the desert are colder than the normal temperature because the area is very open. Thus, we have to find a place that has a roof and walls." She explained. "Even if we set a fire, we do not know the wind currents, and so the fire might be blown out." She said. "Doesn't the mausoleum have a roof and walls to protect us from the cold wind?" she asked. 

The senior policeman nodded. "Mrs. Huo is right." He said. Huo Zichu's words are very logical. He didn't find anything amiss. "Then, let's enter the mausoleum before the night gets darker." He told them. 

"Let's go!" Huo Zichu's eyes flashed. She seemed very happy, contrary to Zhou Cheng, Rourou, Lian Xiang and Peng Qian who feel chills seeing her smile. 

Han Meng is the most frightened.  "N-no…" she said. "No! I'm not going!" she told them as she sat on the sand and rooted herself on it. 

"Han Meng…" Rourou and Lian Xiang felt helpless. 

Meanwhile, Peng Qian frowned. "Suit yourself!" he told her before he marched towards the open mausoleum first. Huo Zichu and Huo Huainan followed behind him, then the senior policeman. 

"Miss. If you don't want to go, then you are own your own." The junior policeman told Han Meng before he followed his senior. 

"What?!" Han Meng was shocked. "No! Aren't you police officers?! How can you be so cruel!" she told him. 

The junior policeman turned his head back. "But it's your own decision! We've got nothing to do about that!" he answered and jogged beside his senior. 

Rourou and Lian Xiang gaped at the backs of the two policemen. However, even them also feel that Han Meng is very unreasonable. "Han Meng, let's go… let's just follow them – " they told her. 

Han Meng looked at them two in shock. "Even you two?!" she said.

Zhou Cheng scoffed. "Leave her." He told Rourou and Lian Xiang. 

"Zhou Cheng…" Rourou and Lian Xiang looked at him. 

"Huo Ling's parents are very experienced. Naturally, they passed down their skills to Huo Ling." Zhou Cheng said as he walked away. "Huo Ling is our lifesaver. Now that he's gone…" his voice faded. "I'm following them. You decide for yourselves." He said and then hurried to follow Huo Huainan, Huo Zichu, the senior and junior policemen, and Peng Qian. 

"This…" Rourou and Lian Xiang looked at each other, feeling helpless. Then, they looked at Han Meng. 

Han Meng saw their reluctance and she frowned. "I'm not going!" she told them. 

Rourou bit her lip. "Han Meng…" Lian Xiang called, then looked at Rourou's eyes. Their gazes talking. "I'm going." She said. 

"What?!" Han Meng shrieked. 

Rourou felt that she should say something to Han Meng. "Han Meng. You already know that this place is strange. That's why, we should follow the adults." She explained. 

"We're also adults!" Han Meng said. 

But we're completely childish compared to them. Rourou thought, but she kept it in her heart. She sighed. I'm going with them." She said. She has finally told Han Meng what she thinks, so she did her best. 

Han Meng's eyes flashed with viciousness. "You're not!" she said as she grabbed the hands of Rourou and Lian Xiang. "You're not leaving me here!" she said as she pulled them. 

Rourou's and Lian Xiang's eyes widened in shock. "No!" they cried as they pulled their hand from Han Meng's grip. "Han Meng, let go of us!" they said. 

"NO!" Han Meng said. 

Rourou and Lian Xiang grunted. They couldn't break free from Han Meng's grip that is like an iron claw. "NO!" they cried. "HELP!" they cried as they looked towards the mausoleum. 

The junior policeman and Zhou Cheng are about to enter when they heard Rourou's and Lian Xiang's cries. They stopped and looked at each other before they ran back. "Damn that woman!" Zhou Cheng can't help but curse as they ran. He obviously has figured out what happened. So, he's cursing Han Meng. 

The junior policeman looked at him. "Women are always a trouble." He sighed before they reached Rourou and Lian Xiang. 

They went to try pulling Han Meng's grip from Rourou's and Lian Xiang's wrists. They could see their wrists turned purple from being grasped too tight. "I can't break them free!" Zhou Cheng said. "What should we do?!" he asked the junior policeman. 

The junior policeman's hand holding Lian Xian's hand loosened. He straightened his hand like a blade before he hit Han Meng's arms. 

"ARRGH!" Han Meng cried and her arms became limp. 

"Run!" the junior policeman yelled and pulled Lian Xiang to run. He has already noticed when they arrived that there's something wrong with Han Meng. "Don't look back!" he added when in his peripheral vision he saw a strange shadow. "Faster!" he said. 

Rourou and Lian Xiang are crying, completely confused of what is happening. However, their instinct told them to follow the junior policeman's words. Their desire to live prompted them to run faster. 

Zhou Cheng naturally won't look back. The situation is already strange as it is. They were near the mausoleum when they heard growl like that of a beast. Alarm bells rang in their mind and they looked at each other before they jumped towards the entrance of the mausoleum and rolled on the floor. 

At the same time, they felt a gust of wind swept past their back, followed by a loud snarl. They felt their scalp became numb and they didn't have time to care about the pain on their limbs when they landed on the floor. They immediately crawled further inside the mausoleum. 

"F*ck! What the hell is that?!" Peng Qian cursed as he looked at outside the mausoleum. His eyes wide in shock. 

"A… beast?" the senior policeman said as he looked at the shadow moving outside the mausoleum. 

The junior policeman, Zhou Cheng, Rourou and Lian Xiang could finally turn, only to utter in surprise when they saw a pair of gleaming red eyes outside. "That's… Han Meng?" Rourou and Lian Xiang muttered when they saw the familiar figure. Also, it was Han Meng who is chasing them from behind. 

Their face paled. "That's her." Huo Zichu spoke. 

Everyone looked at her. Suspicion is on their eyes. 

However, she didn't immediately explain. "When you were inside the mausoleum, did you notice something strange about her?" she asked Zhou Cheng and Peng Qian. Rourou and Lian Xiang were left outside the mausoleum earlier with Andy and Philip. 

"No…" Peng Qian answered, frowning. 

But, Zhou Cheng's eyes flashed when he remembered something. "Yes!" he answered. "Earlier, she seemed more enthusiastic than usual. She also suddenly pushed Huo Ling when we're going to look at the murals." He explained. 

"Ah!" Peng Qian muttered when he also remembered. "That's right. She seemed overly excited. And she's not even fawning over Huo Ling… ehem." He coughed when he realized he said something he shouldn't. He looked away. 

Huo Huainan and Huo Zichu's expression, however, didn't change. "I noticed she seemed to be possessed." Huo Zichu said. 

"'possessed'?" they asked. 

"Her behavior looked strange, and so I provoked her. As expected, her reaction is more intense than it should be." Huo Zichu said. "Something affected her to become overemotional." She said. 

"There's something in the mausoleum that possessed her?" the junior policeman said. 

Huo Huainan nodded. "It can only come from the mausoleum." He said, his voice and face calm. 

"N-no way…" Lian Xiang said. "We… we've never experienced this before when we went to other tombs…" she said. 

"That's because we chose them for you." Huo Zichu said. 

They looked at her. 

She crossed her arms. "How can we let our son go to a dangerous place? So, we sent you to safe tombs." She said. 

They were about to sigh in relief and thank her when she spoke again. 

"But, we definitely didn't choose this place." She said. "Who chose this place for you to go to?" she asked them.